Blue Jays Claim They Let Jackson Off the Hook

The Toronto Blue Jays said they squandered scoring opportunities against Danny Jackson until the Kansas City pitcher was just too confident to be beaten.

The Blue Jays collected eight hits and a walk off Jackson but wound up stranding eight runners in falling to the Kansas City Royals, 2-0, in the fifth game of the American League Championship series.

Toronto left runners at second and third in the fifth inning and the bases full in the sixth to let the Royals cling to their 2-0 lead.

It was uncharacteristic of the Blue Jays to let scoring opportunities pass them by. They had administered knockout punches of the Royals in the 10th inning of Game 2 and the ninth inning of Game 4. Al Oliver, who didn’t bat against Jackson, got both of those hits.

But the left-handed hitting Oliver remained on the bench Sunday as the left-handed Jackson threw a complete game.

“He has a super breaking ball--it looks like a fastball until it gets right on you,” Oliver said. “If he can back-door the breaking ball to a right-handed hitter, imagine what he could do to a left-hander.”

The Blue Jays, who had six right-handed hitters in their lineup, credited Jackson for getting better as the game wore on.

“Jackson got tough when he needed to,” said Toronto catcher Ernie Whitt who, with the bases loaded and two out in the sixth, bounced Jackson’s first pitch softly to second.

“I was looking for a fastball and I got it,” Whitt said, “but he jammed me. We didn’t do our jobs as hitters.”

After Whitt bounced out, the Blue Jays’ chances to hit with men on base evaporated. Jackson retired the last 10 batters.

“We had the opportunites,” Oliver said. “But we didn’t jump on him and he’s gaining confidence. That’s something you don’t want to give to a good pitcher.”

Not only did the Blue Jays fail to get the key hit, they didn’t execute the little things, said center fielder Lloyd Moseby, who became the third Blue Jay to make an infield out after Toronto put runners at second and third in the fifth.

“We had our chance in the fifth and couldn’t even hit the ball to the right side,” Moseby said. “We had no chance to win.

“It’s not that we let Jackson off the hook--we could have played all day until somebody said ‘I give.’ We had a lot of hits to not score,” Moseby said.

Second baseman Damaso Garcia, who popped to second base for the second out of the expensive fifth, said Jackson’s location was his key.

“We chased bad pitches,” Garcia said. “It just wasn’t our day.”